Writing 1301 6th August 2009 Health Care Reform in United States: We Can Not Wait Any Longer

In America today there is a both grave and dire situation. Millions of American citizens are currently without healthcare coverage or have merely partial coverage. Millions of people have been denied health insurance due to pre-existing health conditions and millions of people with insurance plans have no way to finance a necessary operation because they have been unable to afford life-or-death treatment due to their grossly inadequate insurance plan that refuses to insure them. Moreover, federal government spending on national health care, which amounted to two trillion U.S. dollars, counts towards 16% of the gross domestic product (GDP) in 2005 and the estimated government expenditure on health care in 2015 is four trillion U.S. dollars, 20% of the GDP (Achieving 55-56). In other words, the current health care system is an issue that affects millions of families in the U.S. as well as the economic stability of the nation. Accordingly, President Obama is commited to working with his administration to pass comprehensive health care reform his first year in office (Whitehouse). In President Obama¶s health care reform proposal, the key feature is to create a brand-new public health care coverage which would provide health insurance to all Americans at an affordable price with an individual mandate for children. Additionally, the federal government will work on both reducing the costs and improving the quality of national medical care. Lastly, the government will spread the idea of health and wellness on a spiritual level, forming a better society (Leavitt 86-87). President Obama is not the first president who has proposed health care reform. According to the information from Kaiser Health Reform Gateway, the history of health care efforts in the U.S. can, infact, be traced back to the early 1900s, soon after the Great Depression when former President Franklin Roosevelt signed the Social Security Act as part of the health care reform in 1935. Later on, the government established Medicare and Medicaid as two of the largest federal programs designed to support people who otherwise could not afford medical care. In the 1970s, President Richard Nixon passed the Comprehensive Insurance Act, which effectively began the era of private insurance companiescontroling the health insurance market. Twenty years later, in the early 1990¶s, President Bill Clinton also proposed health care reform, which aimed for universal health care for all Americans (Kaiser). Unfortunately, all of these attempts have failed to achieve its goal whilst the situation has worsened, especially during the past decade. Americans cannot afford to wait any longer. More and more people who actually have insurance plans do not receive the quality care they deserve, considering the ammount of money they must pay. Moreover, skyrocketing medical bills are making U.S. business companies less competitive than others in the rest of the world. Therefore, change in the health care system is certainly needed even if some might argue about the necessity and possibility of the health care reform. People who strongly support the public health plan are the ones that suffer from the current health care system and feel the urge for change. According to the latest CBC News poll, most Americans support for substantial changes in the health care system and the idea of providing

the most expensive health care system in the world. rather than a necessary treatment. Another reason why health care reform is needed is that the disparity between the high costs paid for current healthcare and the comparatively low quality that is currently being given. those small businesses that do offer health care coverage pay more than what big firms pay for the same healthcare services (Tozzi 10). The fourth argument supporting the health care reform is that many small businesses companies cannot afford to hire as many employees as they need due to the cost of providing health care to employees. United States ranks lowest among the six participating countries in almost all five evaluating criteria while its insurance premium is the most expensive. which is one of the main factors why the United States has such a large number of uninsured people. Millions of Americans support this health care reform because they cannot afford to purchase the necessary health care coverage under the current health care system. the truth was that she suffered from her back pain every single day which caused her to be less productive in her work and personal life. According to the Commonwealth Fund. is unacceptable. Based on the four arguments regarding the affordability.more affordable public health care to compete with private insurers. is that of the U. In fact. my boyfriend¶s aunt has severe back problems and urgently needed to have an operation as soon as possible. As a result. which in turn may cause serious social problems. The people believe that the government. reliability of insurers and the negative impact on the nation¶s economy. most small business companies quit offering health insurance to their employees. She then had no choice but to refinance her house. greater numbers of people must resort to using money once kept in savings or retirement accounts or refinancing their homes in order to pay for the medical bill. imposed on Americans by profit-orientated insurance companies. the United States ranks at the bottom in the industrialized nations in quality of care.S. However. she was refused this critical operation by her insurance company. health care reform is seriously needed in the United States. more and more people will be unable to afford health care coverage in the next few years. Therefore. The poll also found that people are content to pay more in taxes so that universal health insurance will be accessible to every citizen. and accept to pay higher interest rate to the bank she took loan from. For example. a private foundation that works towards better quality health system and improves the quality and greater efficiency in health care in America. by cutting high insurance premiums. The insurer claimed that this back operation is only an optional choice. More importantly and possibly the most flawed aspect of the whole system is: people who already pay hundreds of dollars per month to their insurance companies still cannot get needed care when they become seriously injured or sick because their insurers often try as hard as they possibly can to reduce or reject claims in order to cut costs and boost profits. quality of the care. Consequently. Besides. Therefore these companies are less competitive in the global market compared to the other companies which have less of a burden in compensation to the employees. As it shows in the graph above. which she had been paying monthly mortgage for over 15 years. Even though she did have a health care plan back then. according to the 2000 World Health Report issued by the World Health Organization. would actually save them money in the long run (Connelly and Sack A1). if insurance premiums keep increasing.
. almost three times more expensive than New Zealand.

if people like their current health plan. especially the Republican politicians in Congress. which will result in big time savings in the long term. public school system. in the Weekly Address on 18th July 2009. As an answer to the individual freedom on health care. the government is planning to propose more tax on the richest families in America. every resident has access to a medical care and services regardless of their ability to pay. the question left is how to effectively implement this reform. does not have sufficient money to initiate such a reform that is estimated to cost 1. nor will the government force people to purchase insurance. people still have freedom and rights on their own health care. Some countries use single-payer system such as Canada. hold these two refutations: the government-run health plan will turn American into a socialist country with no individual liberty and that the federal government. more and more people are going to be uninsured or underinsured. Both single-payer and pluralistic systems are cost-less health care system because of government involvement in the process of price negotiation (Achieving 66). they might find some barriers stand in the way as opponents repute on the necessity and possibility of the reform. Now that we acknowledged the necessity of the healthcare reform. already trillions of dollars in debt.Unlike the Unite States. Japan and Taiwan. Australia and the Netherlands. The government has already taken progress as President Obama signed the Children¶s Health Insurance Reauthorization Act On February 4. What opponents who hold these objections against the health care reform do not realize is that if the government does nothing while the insurance premium increases every year. At the same time. In fact. In other words. The answer is to provide public health care plan and therefore creating competition among private insurers. eliminate unnecessary administrative expenditure. neither the middle-class nor the poorest families (Pauly 2272-2273). guaranteed that the government will not interfere with individual choice on the healthcare plan. In a pluralistic health care system.C. when the government implements the health care reform step by step starting from the Washington D. 2009. In a single-payer system. This is the true misery to people. the government guarantees full access to medical care to all residents while providing alternative private insurance plans for people to choose from. Germany. In fact. Those countries have used different strategies to provide affordable health care coverage for all residents. President Obama. Others offer a mix of both public and private insurance providers (also known as pluralistic systems) such as France. Almost all opponents. many aspects of American government are already socialized such as police and fire department. many industrialized western countries already offer lifetime universal health care to their citizens at no cost or at very low cost. these reforms have positive affect in the society because now people spend less time doing the same amount of work as before and people do not have to pay for the services.Nevertheless. they can still keep their current health plan. mail services and public library system. the government announces to cut down the unnecessary expenditure from Medicare and Medicaid by providing the patients the most appropriate treatment other than the most expensive treatment. This Act will provide quality care to 11 million children and 4 million of those whom were uninsured before (The White House).
. In return. which means that the government is the solely payer of health care cost. In order to reduce federal costs and provide enough money for this health care reform. United Kingdom.6 trillion dollars in the next decade (Karl A15).

in the future. dollars. right now in American. millions of Americans still have no health care coverage and the government spending on medical care increases rapidly year after year. The Obama Administration prefers the pluralistic system which allows both public and private insurers exist in the market as he announced to exclude single-payer system at the ³Health Care Summit´ held in 2009 (Single 2). the premium increased three times faster than the average wages in the past decade (57). Additionally. which would only costs in equivalent less than $50 U. The controversy generated by the health care reform in United States has been discussed for over a century. The total CT-scan process took less than 5 minutes but the bill was more than 2.S.
.6 million people currently uninsured and with nearly twice the average cost of premiums in comparison to other developed nations. the government should increase support for medical programs such as Medicare and Medicaid because these organizations provide help for poor or disabled people who qualify for health care coverage. With more than 42.umn. EBSCOhost. Meanwhile.com. works as a hidden business killer. which is not effective because profit-oriented companies will always try to produce at the profit-maximizing quantity other than the effective quantity. I wonder if some hidden agreement is secretly made between the hospital and the insurance companies such that people have to pay more than what the treatment really costs. all Americans will have equal and easy access to affordable health care with better quality.000 U. I have always wondered what is the ³real cost´ of a medical treatment in America. However.lib.floyd. Investigation groups should look into the insurance industry and closely look for evidences.
Works Cited ³Achieving a High-Performance Health Care System with Universal Access: What the United States Can Learn from Other Countries. my roommate had an additional CT (computed tomography)-scan for tuberculoses test last fall when she just arrived on campus. Personally. the government should not let this happen any longer. This is time to make a change and we should seize this opportunity so that.However.S. For instance. U of Minnesota Lib.´ Annals of Internal Medicine 148 (2008): 55-75 Academic Source Premier.ebscohost.edu>. private insurance companies are able to set the price at their favor. the United States has by far the most expensive health care system but yet not the most comprehensive system (Pauly 2271). 20 July 2009 < http://search. The government should also work on reducing the high cost of health care. the current health care system which makes small business companies in America pay a large amount of money every year on employee insurance. forcing private insurance companies to produce more comprehensive and relatively cheaper health care plans. As a negative result. dollars in China given the same equipment.Therefore. providing a public health care plan is a great idea not only because it is more affordable but also because it creates competition among other private insurers. If so.